Houston Rockets superstar James Harden said he was the best basketball player alive two-and-a-half years ago, so it shouldn’t be such a surprise when he says it now. Doubling down on the assertion he made in December, Harden told TIME magazine that he is “for sure” the No. 1 guy:
Are you the best player in the world right now?
For sure. I feel like I’m solid in everything: IQ, studying the game, I can score the basketball, make my teammates better. There are not a lot of guys that have all those characteristics in one. They might be way more athletic, can shoot the ball way better. But everything solid in one human body?
You can ask all those top guys who the best player is, of course they are going to say themselves. Because as a basketball player you’re confident in your craft. It’s not taking shots at anybody. It’s a confidence.
If this upsets you for some reason, please note that Harden directly said he wasn’t taking a shot at anyone. There’s a debate to be had as to who is the absolute best in the business, but Harden is certainly up there -- along with LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard. Every single one of those guys believes he’s the best player on the planet every time he takes the floor, and that’s how it should be.
The all-time greats need to have extreme confidence. If Harden didn’t think this way, then he probably wouldn’t be in the running for the Most Valuable Player award this year.
